Archery arrow



L. s. MEYER June 23, 1959 ARCHERY ARROW 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 12, 1956 FIGIZ FIG.4

INVENTOR.

LEONARD S. MEYER BY CORBETT, MAHONEY 8. MILLER ATTYS.

B WWW- June 23, 1959 L. s. MEYER 2,891,794

ARCHERY ARROW Filed Dec. 12, 1956 3 Shegts-Sheet z FIG. 5

FIG.6 FIG.7

INVENTOR.

LEONARD S. M EYER CORBETT, MAHONEY 8| IL ER ATTYS.

- BY m L. S- MEYER ARCHERY ARROW June 23, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 12, 1956 FIG. IO

FIG. 9

INVENTOR.

LEONARD S. MEYER MAHONEY & MILLER ATTYS.

BY M 7 CORBETT,

United States Patent assignments, to Parallel Products Company, Columbia,

SC, a corporation of South Carolina Application December 12, 1956, Serial No. 627,956

2 Claims. (Cl. 273-1065) My invention relates to an archery arrow. It relates,

more particularly, to an archery arrow which has the fietching and nock formed on the trailing edge thereof as a combined unit.

Fletchings are the feather vane members used adjacent the trailing ends of arrows to improve their performance in flight and their accuracy. Nocks are the members provided on the extremities of the trailing ends of arrows, and each being provided with a rearwardly directed notch for receiving the string of a bow. These members, in the prior art, have always been made separately of various materials and applied separately to the arrow shaft. The application of these members to the shaft is difiicult and time-consuming, and sometimes the two members are not properly located relative to each other on the shaft. Also, the danger of relative displacement or complete displacement from the arrow shaft during use is always present. Furthermore, in the prior art it has not been possible to make these two members of desirable materials, such as certain types of plastics, due to difliculties in molding, and still obtain the desired characteristics in the fietching and nock, for

"ice

4-4 of Figure 2 through the fietching portion of the arrow.

Figure 5 is a longitudinal sectional view through a mold showing the rear end of the arrow shaft positioned in the mold cavity preparatory to receiving the plastic which will form the fietching and nock.

Figure 6 is a transverse sectional view taken along line 6-6 of Figure 5 through the nook-forming part of the mold cavity.

Figure 7 is a transverse sectional view taken along line 7--7 of Figure 5 through the fietching-forming part of the mold cavity.

Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 2 but showing a different type of arrow shaft on which the fietching and nock are formed.

Figure 9 is a transverse sectional view taken along line 99 of Figure 8 through the neck portion of the arrow.

Figure 10 is a transverse sectional view taken along line 1010 of Figure 8 through the fietching portion of the arrow.

With reference to the drawings, the completed archery arrow unit 10 is illustrated in Figure 1. It comprises a shaft 11 having a point 12 suitably applied thereto. At the trailing end of the shaft 11 the fietching 12 and nock 13 are formed thereon in predetermined relationship with each other and with the shaft 11. The details of the fietching and nook and the cooperating rear end of the shaft 11 are illustrated in Figures 2, 3 and 4.

It will be noted from Figures 2, 3 and 4 that the shaft 11 of the arrow 10, in this example, is of solid form.

,the shaft 11 and will have the desired characteristics after example, flexibility in the fietching vanes and the sleeves which carries them and which is slipped over the shaft, and rigidity in the nock. These molding difiiculties were increased when it was attempted to mold the fletching and nock as a single unit as disclosed in my copending application, Serial No. 326,332, filed December 16, 1952, and now abandoned, and of which this applicaction is a continuation-in-part.

The main object of my invention is to provide an archery arrow which includes the arrow shaft having formed on the rear end thereof a fietching and nock of such material and structure that each has the desired properties and which are exactly positioned in a predetermined manner on the shaft relative to each other and are secured to the arrow shaft so that there is no danger of relative displacement on the shaft or complete displacement from the shaft during use of the arrow.

Another object of my invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive method for producing from a suitable material, such as plastic, on an arrow shaft, the fietching and nock of the type indicated in the preceding paragraph and which have the desirable properties indicated.

Various other objects will be apparent.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated the. combination arrow, fietching and neck unit of my invention and the method of making it.

In these drawings:

Figure 1 is an elevational view showing the combination arrow, fietching and neck unit of my invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view taken through the rear portion of the arrow unit of my invention.

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken along line 3--3 of Figure 2, through the nock portion of the arrow.

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view taken along line molding which are flexibility for the fietching 12 and rigidly for the nock 13. Suitable materials for molding the fietching 12 and nock 13 are polyethylene or plasticized vinyl such as vinyl chloride and vinyl acetate.

As shown in Figure 4, the fietching 12 consists of a plurality of angularly spaced radially extending longitudinal vanes 14. These vanes may be of a selected number but three are shown. They are preferably very thin so that the portions thereof projecting radially from the shaft 11 will be very flexible. Each vane 14 tapers gradually at its forward end and sharply at its rear end as shown in Figure 2. As indicated in Figure 4, these vanes 14 are joined integrally with each other at the center of the shaft 11 by means of a central longitudinally extending rib 15, with which they are longitudinally coextensive, disposed in a central longitudinal bore 16 within the shaft 11. The vanes 14 extend radially outwardly from this rib 15 through radial longitudinally extending slots 17 formed in the shaft 11 with their ends spaced from the trailing end thereof, the vanes being joined to the rib at the inner ends of the slots.

The neck 13 of the arrow 10 is integrally joined with but axially spaced from the fietching 12 by the axial extension of the rib 15 which, as shown in Figure 2, extends through the open rear end of the bore 16 in the shaft 11. The rear end of the shaft 11 is preferably provided with a reduced rear extremity 18 about which the neck 13 is molded. The nock 13 is provided with a rearwardly facing string-receiving notch 19.

Thus, the arrow 10 will consist of the shaft 11 of any suitable material, having the fietching 12 and the nock 13 formed thereon and integrally joined to each other. The vanes 14 of the fietching will be sufliciently thin so that they will have the desired flexibility. The nock 13, on the other hand, will have suflicient body and will be so formed around the extension 18 of the shaft 3 11, that it will have the desired rigidity. The nock 13 and the fietching 12 cannot be displaced on the shaft 11 relatively or cannot be entirely displaced therefrom since they are connected together as an integral unit and are formed in position on the rear end of the shaft 11.

In Figures 5, 6 and 7, I have illustrated how this arrow unit 10 can be made according to my invention. In forming the thin vanes 14 it is dilficult to prevent the entrapment of air during their formation because they are so thin. This ditficulty is obviated in following the method which will now be described and which is illustrated in Figures 5, 6 and 7. This unit will be formed by an injection molding operation. To prevent entrapment of air and to obtain other advantages, the rear end of the shaft 11 itself is used as a means for feeding the material to the vane-forming portions 20 of the mold cavity.

The rear end of the shaft 11 is positioned in the cavity of the mold with the slots 17 thereof longitudinally coextensive with and angularly disposed in alignment with the radially extending vane-forming portions 20 of the mold cavity. The shaft 11 is preformed with the bore 16 and the communicating slots 17 as well as with the reduced end 18. The reduced end 18 will be positioned in the nock-forming portion 21 of the mold cavity. Communieating with this nock-forming portion of the mold cavity is the inlet passageway 22 by means of which the fluid material may be injected into the mold cavity. This passageway 22 is behind the rear extremity of the reduced rear end 18 of the shaft 11. If three vanes 14 are to be formed as shown, the mold body is preferably made in three cooperating sections 23, 24 and 25. The number of mold sections may be varied in accordance with the number of vanes to be formed, that is, in accordance with the number of vaneforming mold cavity portions 20 which are provided. Where each of these mold sections meet, there will be a joint 26 extending from the mold cavity portion 20 outwardly to the atmosphere. This will provide a vent for preventing the entrapment of air in each portion 29 of the cavity.

In injecting the plastic material into the mold cavity with the shaft 11 positioned therein as indicated in Figure with its rear end within the mold cavity, the material will be forced through the inlet passageway 22, through the bore 16 in the shaft 11, out through the slots 17 in the shaft, and into the vane-forming cavity portions 20, forcing any air which tends to collect therein out through the joints 26. After the portions 29, the slots 17 and the bore 16 of the shaft 11 are filled with material, the material will fill up the nock-forming portion 21 of the mold cavity and will flow around the reduced end 38 of the shaft. It will be noted that the inlet passageway 22 will also be formed between two sections of the mold, being shown in the joint between the two sections 23 and 24. Thus, after the material in the mold cavity sets and is cured, the mold sections can be readily removed and the sprue formed by the inlet passageway 22 can be cut from the nock 13. Thus, with this method, the fietching 12 and nock 13 can be molded on the shaft 11 without entrapment of air, will have the desired properties, and will be located in predetermined fixed positions on the shaft.

In Figures 8, 9 and 10, I have illustrated a modification of the arrow unit. Sometimes the shaft of the arrow is made of hollow tubular form of metal, plastic, or other suitable material. When the shaft is so formed,

I preferably provide a plug 11a which is inserted in the rear end of the tube 10a. This plug 11a will be of wood, plastic, or other solid material and will have substantially all the characteristics of the rear end of the shaft 11. shown in Figure 2. It will have the central bore 16a formed therein, which forms the central rib 15a, and will communicate with the vane-forming slots 17a formed radially in the plug. These slots, along with the coextensive cooperating portions of the mold cavity, will pro duce the vanes 14a. The nock portion 13a will be molded around the rear extremity 18a of the shaft 11a and will be joined at its outer surface to the vanes 14a. The connecting central rib 15a will cooperate to join the nock 13a and 14a. This unit will be molded in substantially the same manner as the unit previously described, the nockforming part of the mold cavity being slightly modified.

It will be apparent from the above description thatI have provided an archery arrow which includes an arrow shaft having formed on the rear end thereof a fietching and nock of such a nature that the fletching vanes are very flexible whereas the nock is of rigid construction. The fletching and nock are molded integrally with each other and in fixed position on the rear end of the shaft. The result is that both the fletching and the nock will be exactly positioned on the shaft relative to each other and relative to the shaft with no danger of displacement. The method which I have provided for producing this unit is simple and inexpensive and provides for molding the various portions without danger of entrapment of air.

Various other advantages will be apparent from the drawings, the preceding description, and the following claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. An archery arrow comprising an elongated shaft and an integrally joined fietching and nock in fixed position on the trailing end of the shaft, said end of the shaft having a central rearwardly opening bore and radial longitudinally extending slots formed therein which are angularly spaced and which communicate at their inner ends with said bore, said slots having their rear ends spaced forwardly from said trailing end of the shaft, said fietching including vanes which extend radially outwardly through said slots from an inner longitudinally co-extensive central rib disposed in said central bore of the shaft by which they are joined and said vanes projecting radially from the shaft, said nock including a body axially aligned with the shaft and having a rearwardly opening string-receiving notch, said nock body being joined to said fletching vanes by a rearward axial continuation of said central rib which extends beyond the rear ends of said slots and joins the nock body at the rear end of said rearwardly opening bore.

2. An archery arrow according to claim 1 in which the nock body and vanes of the fietching are axially spaced relative to the shaft, and the nock body surrounds the rear extremity of the shaft and projects rearwardly therefrom.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,842,540 Cowdery Jan. 26, 1932 2,453,739 Bates Nov. 16, 1948 2,499,029 McElroy Feb. 28, 1950 2,568,274 Clark Sept. 18, 1951 

